Family feud

Actor Dennis Padilla seems to be barking up the wrong tree in blaming his children with ex-wife Marjorie Barretto for not being asked to walk their daughter Claudia to the altar at her wedding on 8 April at St. James The Great Parish, Ayala Alabang Village, Muntinlupa City.

Padilla expected to be treated as the “father of the bride,” but he was considered “only as a guest of the bride.” He was not part of the entourage at all. 

It is doubtful that Claudia and her siblings, nor even Marjorie, had a hand in how the wedding was to proceed. The man Claudia married — Basti Lorenzo — comes from a very wealthy family, and it seems that it was Basti and his family who took care of everything about the wedding. Seemingly, including all the costs of the event. So, the Lorenzo family seems to have called all the shots. Or the wedding planners the Lorenzo family hired did.

 Padilla, in an interview with vlogger Ogie Diaz after the wedding, confided that he knew about the forthcoming event three weeks before it transpired. Padilla learned it from Claudia herself when he had a get-together with Claudia, her older sister Julia Barretto, and their younger brother Leon Barretto. 

That get-together ended up with Basti joining them, and they all knew that the would-be husband was joining them, so Padilla could get to know him. The siblings and their mother all knew Basti well since they had been sweethearts for almost 15 years already. That’s how long, too, Padilla has been separated from the family. In those 15 years, Basti had hung out frequently with the siblings and their mother.  At some point in those 15 years, Marjorie had a daughter with a Caloocan politician as Marjorie herself joined politics there (though Padilla was the first politician in the family).

Padilla confided to Diaz that the get-together took hours but Claudia and her would-be husband never told him (Padilla) that he would not be a part of the wedding entourage and he would not walk his daughter down the aisle. 

Padilla also divulges to Diaz that at about seven o’clock in the morning of the wedding day, soon after he texted Claudia his wish for wedded bliss for the bride and the groom, Claudia tearfully called him on the phone to let him know the wedding is canceled. 

The daughter revealed to her father that the whole week before the wedding, she did not feel any excitement from her would-be husband about their wedding. 

Padilla assured his daughter it would be all right with him if the wedding was canceled. He would perfectly understand her. He wanted to call his mother right away to advise her not to dress up anymore for the event as it had been aborted. 

But in 10 minutes or so, Claudia called her father again to let him know the wedding would push through as planned: late noon of 8 April. Padilla prepared his Barong Tagalog and other accoutrements for formal attire and then proceeded to drive to his mother’s house to assure her the wedding was pushing through. Padilla’s younger brother, the comedian Gene Padilla, joined them. 

They got to church earlier than everyone. They eventually learned the truth: Padilla was not counted in the entourage as the father of the bride. He was a mere guest of the bride. It would be okay for him to sit with the sponsors including the couple Richard Gomez and Lucy Torres. Their daughter Juliana was among the bridesmaids as she is a batchmate of Claudia in an upscale secondary school owned by Basti’s family. 

Padilla decided to sit at the back with his mother and brother. 

When Padilla starkly saw Claudia walking down the aisle alone, he approached the wedding coordinator and stressed that he was the father of the bride and he could walk his daughter down the aisle. The coordinator firmly told him they were just following orders. 

But when Padilla turned around to the aisle again, he saw Claudia’s mother meeting her halfway and walking her until it was time to let go of the bride to her groom. 

Padilla cried quietly. After the wedding, he joined the photo-op so he and his mother could have a photo with Claudia and her new husband. The actor, his mother and his brother did not go to the reception anymore somewhere in Laguna. 

Reports have it that most of the guests were relatives and friends of the Lorenzo family since aside from the Gomez couple and their daughter, no one was from showbiz. Padilla said both Gretchen Barretto and Claudine Barretto were not invited. Padilla swore to Diaz that Claudine wanted very much to attend, and texted and kept calling Marjorie until she (Marjorie) blocked Claudine. The actress cried her heart out, swore Padilla to Diaz. 

Julia might not have been allowed to be escorted by her well-known boyfriend: Actor-businessman Gerald Anderson. 

Dani Barretto, Marjorie’s first child ever whose father is Kier Legaspi, was invited, along with her husband Xavi Panlilio. Both were at the wedding. 

It is not known for sure if the groom’s super-wealthy parents even attended the wedding. Not one of the posted pics from the event has a caption “the groom’s parents.” Basti’s older brother, Mateo, married actress Erich Gonzales. Journos and vloggers scoured the posted pics but never found the couple. 

Padilla feels so awful about what he thinks his children did to him. Padilla swore he would never bother with his children with Marjorie again (though he never said anything about never missing them anymore). 

He intoned to Diaz: “I will carry it to my funeral. Hanggang mamatay ako, hindi ko babaguhin. Ayoko na. Pagod na ako (I don’t think I can do it anymore. I will carry it to my funeral. Until I die. I will not respond to them. I don’t want to do it anymore. I’m so tired of it).”

But we can’t believe the children did it. They were probably as helpless as their father that day.

We hope their mother — the ex-wife! — felt bad about stealing the role of her daughter’s father on that occasion. Can any mother be that heartless?!